Arena Pharmaceuticals Appoints Three New Members to Board of Directors

Press Release

Arena Pharmaceuticals Appoints Three New Members to Board of Directors

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) today announced the appointment of three new members to the company's Board of Directors. Jayson Dallas, M.D., Oliver Fetzer, Ph.D., and Garry A. Neil, M.D. have joined as independent directors. The new directors are all international business executives with significant drug development and commercial expertise. In addition, current directors Harry F. Hixson, Jr., Ph.D. and Donald D. Belcher will be retiring from the Board at the annual meeting.

"I would like to thank Dr. Hixson and Mr. Belcher for their years of service and welcome our new directors to the team," said Tina S. Nova, Ph.D., Chair of the Board. "We believe the new members will provide experience that supports our clinical refocus as we progress our pipeline programs."

Dr. Dallas has successfully overseen multiple product launches and has led numerous commercial organizations through periods of rapid growth over the course of his more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry. Dr. Dallas currently serves as the Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company developing novel products for rare and ultra-rare diseases. Prior to Ultragenyx, Dr. Dallas served as General Manager of Roche UK. Prior to this, he held senior positions at Genentech, Novartis, Pharmacia and Roche. Dr. Dallas earned his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and an MBA from Ashridge Business School in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Fetzer has extensive experience in successful clinical development, deal transactions and biopharmaceuticals leadership over his more than 20 years in the industry. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Synthetic Genomics, a global leader in the field of synthetic biology and synthetic genomics. Dr. Fetzer previously served as the Chief Executive Officer at Cerulean Pharma and in a variety of senior management positions at Cubist Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Fetzer began his career and assumed various positions of increasing responsibility at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). He serves on the board of Tecan Group AG. Dr. Fetzer received a B.S. in Biochemistry from the College of Charleston, his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the
Medical University of South Carolina, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Neil has over two decades of biopharmaceutical experience with an emphasis on drug development and regulatory strategy. Dr. Neil currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer of Aevi Genomic Medicine, a biotechnology company focused on genomic medicine. Previously, he held a number of senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry, academia and venture capital, including positions at Johnson & Johnson, Merck KGaA/EMD Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca and Astra Merck. He is the Founding Chairman of the pharmaceutical industry R&D consortium, TransCelerate Biopharma, and remains on its board. He also serves on the boards of Reagan Udall Foundation and GTx Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Neil holds a B.S. from the
University of Saskatchewan and an M.D. from the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine. He completed postdoctoral clinical training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at the University of Toronto and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic.

"Each individual joining our Board brings to Arena drug development expertise with specific areas of experience in clinical and regulatory strategy, commercial planning, and corporate development," added Amit Munshi, President and CEO of Arena. "The addition of the new Board members continues our transformation of Arena as we focus on bringing forward our proprietary pipeline of what we believe are first- or best-in-class Phase 2 compounds."

About Arena PharmaceuticalsArena Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel, small molecule drugs across a range of therapeutic areas. Arena is focused on three primary proprietary investigational clinical programs: etrasimod (APD334) in Phase 2 evaluation for ulcerative colitis and initiating Phase 2 for additional indications, APD371 entering Phase 2 evaluation for the treatment of pain associated with Crohn's disease, and
ralinepag (APD811) in Phase 2 evaluation for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In addition, Arena has collaborations with the following pharmaceutical companies: Eisai Co., Ltd. and Eisai Inc. (commercial stage), Axovant Sciences (Phase 2 candidate), and Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH (preclinical candidate).

Forward-Looking StatementsCertain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include statements about the significance and participation of the new board members; and Arena's focus, primary programs and collaborations. For such statements, Arena claims the protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual events or results may differ materially from Arena's expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include those disclosed in Arena's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements represent Arena's judgment as of the time of this release. Arena disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other
than as may be required under applicable law.